A blighted property at 186 Madison Street has been vacated for at least ten years and the property has remained in a state of disrepair until it was finally torn down by Contento’s Demolition on Friday, July 12th.
Captain Roy Everett of the City of Cortland Codes Office told X101 News the demolition came after an engineer with the City of Cortland said collapse of the two-story house was likely after the roof collapsed about a month and a half ago.
The City of Cortland was able to work with a financial company and property owner Hunt Realty out of Liverpool. The property had been up for sale, but was not being maintained. The City of Cortland was able to get cooperation from the property owners to pay for the demolition, avoiding taxpayers from footing the bill until repayment was given. If the property owner didn’t cooperate with the demolition, they would have had to pay additional fees and administrative costs to the city.
The demolition then came at no cost for taxpayers. Captain Everett credits the Mayor’s Office and his investment in the City Codes Office for getting the blighted property torn down. He noted this was one of the mayor’s campaign promises to focus on the dozens of neglected properties within the city and take action on them.